Actions for modern firearms generally are designed to operate within tight tolerances within a receiver of their firearm while providing both quick response and reliable operation over a high number of firing cycles. Such actions generally include a breech bolt with a number of locking lugs formed into the bolt head thereof. For example, in M16/AR15/M4 type firearms, the bolt head can include seven lugs arranged in an eight-lug spacing interval, with the space for the missing lug generally being occupied by a pivoting claw-type extractor device.
An eight-lug spacing interval has been found to be advantageous for rapid-fire, auto-loading firearms in that the amount of bolt rotation needed to lock the action is reduced when compared to bolts with breech configurations having fewer lugs. Such reduced amount of rotation can result in shorter firing cycles and quicker action operation. In the typical bolt configuration for an M16/AR 15 auto-loading rifle, the eighth lug is generally removed to allow sufficient space for a pivoting extractor device to be used, fitting within a slot machined along the outer surface of the bolt and pivotable through the gap created by the removal of the lug. However, in addition to reducing the bolt head to seven lugs for locking the bolt into the barrel extension, removing a lug and forming the gap that accommodates the extractor can affect the structural integrity of the bolt head, and can result in an unbalanced locking force. In addition, the extra manufacturing steps involved in machining the extractor slot and machining/manufacturing the pivoting claw-type extractor device adds expense to the firearm.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a simplified extraction system that is addresses the foregoing and other related and unrelated problems in the art.